23 January 2007

A company website which does not comply with accessibility guidelines could be "shutting the door to over eight million potential customers in the UK", one expert has claimed.

Paul Turner, a website analyst at UK power giant Powergen, commented as his company has created a new, more accessible online offering designed to be compliant with AA level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

"The electricity and gas market is extremely competitive ... we want to go beyond industry guidelines and significantly raise the bar in online accessibility in the energy sector," he remarked.

In addition to meeting WCAG standards, Powergen asserted that the new site enhancements will enable it to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

"We can fulfil our responsibilities under the DDA and be absolutely confident that we have an accessible website that really works," added Mr Turner.

The DDA specifies that organisations are contravening the law if they do not provide online services which can be accessed by disabled persons.

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